Duet: Fluttercord (Musical!) AU
by StarryNight1313
Summary: Fluttercord is a freshman at college majoring in music with an emphasis on choral studies. Her professor is a talented and mysterious man. A very sweet and innocent short story.


There was a small castle situated on the outside of a big city. It once was the home of some lord or another, but now it served as a place of tertiary education; it was a college. The college's name itself was not important, the only thing that truly mattered was that the college had a great science program, but was also known for its music program as well. Only the best musicians and hopeful professionals went to the school, as it was a ticket to a great career afterwards, regardless of the area of expertise.

In this college there was a newcomer and her name was Fluttershy. She had entered the school in hopes of becoming a professional concert singer, despite her stage fright and lack of confidence. Still, the petite girl had been accepted and was now a freshman. Her room was on the east side of the castle on the seventh floor. It wasn't particularly spacious but it suited her needs and she was alone, which meant she could illegally hide her pet in the room. After all, how could she leave her favorite pet bunny Angel behind?

Of all the classes she had her first semester, she was most looking forward to her personal choir lessons. The professor would give her individual attention and hopefully raise her to the highest of heights. She could not have been more excited…and more terrified. What if he was mean? Or loud? Or demanding?

When it came to her first Monday of the semester, she no longer had time to contemplate her worries. After a history class, which was inconsequential to her, she went down to the music labs in the basement of the music hall. It was evening already and the sun had already begun to set, but no light could be seen all the way in the basement.

It was a bit drafty in the basement, and the stone walls did little to offer some warmth to the halls. Checking her schedule, Fluttershy gripped her bag and gulped down some air before heading into the last room on the right. She knocked the door very gently. The sound resonated softly upon the wooden door.

"Come in," came a very firm order.

Fluttershy did so, her shoulders slumped a bit. Her heart was pounding out of her chest. As she entered she nodded "hello" but kept her teal eyes trained to the ground. A cough came from behind a large wooden desk and she knew she had to look up, and did so immediately. Her eyes grew big and round.

Her professor stood up from behind his large wooden desk and walked slowly over the piano at the side of the room. He was tall and lanky but had a fitted look about him. He was dressed a brown and green stripped suit with a red tie. His hair was stark white and pulled back into a short ponytail, though loose pieces framed and slightly obscured his face. A pair of black glasses were perched upon his slightly elongated nose. His eyes, his eyes! They were yellow with red pupils, like some sort of beast. The professor did not smile at her; his face was fixed in a perpetual frown.

"Name," came his deep voice, which had a melodic ring to it.

A squeak came from the little girl. She hid her face behind her beautiful pink hair.

"Fluttershy, sir!" she squeaked again.

He gave a snort of derision.

"'Sir' will not be necessary. Call me by my given name when we are alone such as now. I am called Discord."

Fluttershy looked upon him once more, into his hallow face. Her pink eyelashes batted once, and then another time. She held her bag full of sheets and scores of music tight to her small chest. Her yellow dress seemed to rustle in the nonexistent breeze. Discord raised a grey-charcoal eyebrow at her.

"Shall we begin?"

She nodded once, with vigor, and proceeded to draw out sheet after sheet of music. The tall Discord drew at once to the piano and the girl followed suit. He took the parchments from her and readied his fingers on the keys. The piano he sat at was a simple upright made from oak with no designs and the keys were worn in places that had so often been stroked. However when he played a quick warm up using some simple chords, Fluttershy understood why he had chosen this piano to be his personal one. The sound was crisp and clear, but the tone vibrated off of the stone walls in such a way that the notes seemed to echo off of it with beautiful fading tones. The melodies of such simple combinations vibrated within her very soul. She pushed back her pink bangs and took a deep breath.

The professor blew a strand of starlight-white hair from his face and signaled her to begin with a simple nod. With a small, pink-lipped smile, Fluttershy did exactly as he asked.

"In a very unusual way one time I needed you.

In a very unusual way you were my friend.

Maybe it lasted a day, maybe it lasted an hour.

But, somehow it will never end."

After the first verse, Discord stopped playing and Fluttershy ceased singing. She looked at him, her blue eyes wide with fear. Had she done something horribly wrong?

The professor did not smile at her but said simply:

"You have a haunting voice; I have not heard anything like it in a long, long while."

The girl smiled and blushed with fervor. He had said something like that..to her! So she had not done something wrong after all! In her mind, she squealed with delight. The professor cracked one of his knuckles and played out a few chords from the sheet. He had a puzzled look on his face.

"Why did you pick this?" he asked, though no intonation could be found in his voice.

The girl crossed her thin legs, now anxious that her selection had not been appropriate or to his liking. In a soft voice she whispered:

"I am not sure why I chose this piece, specifically, but I feel a deep connection to it for some reason. I feel as though it speaks to me somehow…"

Fluttershy trailed off, then realized she had said much more than she had intended. Why had she told him something so personal? She should have kept her mouth shut.

Discord clicked his tongue. He looked up and down at the girl. She was very thin and petite with a pallid complexion. How could such a powerful and gorgeous voice come from such a vessel? Looking into her eyes, as blue-green as the ocean, somehow he could sense much more depth behind her physique. Though she seemed so passive and bland, somehow she seemed to compel him. Discord took a deep breath and stroked his dark goatee pensively. For the first time in his life, he longed to know more about another person.

"Fluttershy."

The girl perked up and to attention, her eyes blinking rapidly with anxiety and interest.

"I would like to make you my personal protégé here at this college, though it will require more time working and more time one-on-one with me…Would you accept under these conditions?" Discord posed, arching an eyebrow.

The girl felt as though her heart was going to explode from joy, yet her face remained mostly unchanged other than the slight smile upon her lips. She gripped her hands together tightly, making them appear more pale than usual.

"Yes!"

That night Fluttershy sat up awake in her room, Angel curled up beside her in a cute little bunny-bun. He had asked her, on the first day no less, to become his personal pupil! What an honor! With a sigh, Fluttershy brought down her ego step-by-step; perhaps he had no chosen her for the reasons she believed. Perhaps it was because he felt pity for her….or worse….because he wanted to mess with her. The fears of such things lurked in her mind all night and not even humming could soothe her soul into sleep.

There was a knock upon her door the next morning. Flutter shy woke with the sound of the knock, blinking her bleary eyes. From the looks of the sunlight streaming in through her covered window, it looked to be midday. The knock could be heard once more. She got up and answered the door, but no one was there. Instead, there was a folded note on white paper and a single white lily beside it. Bending down, she picked up the note and looked upon it. On the outside it had her name in a flowing script, written in ink. On the inside there was a note in the same scrawling script as the front.

"Come to the piano lab. No need to do anything but come dressed."

And that was it. The girl drew the note and the flower to her and walked them inside, setting them all but carelessly upon her nightstand. With a sort of quickness that was not usually available to her in the mornings, she began to pull on a white skirt and a light, breezy pink top. With haste she pulled up her hair and pinned it with a delicate pearl butterfly pin. Patting Angel on the head on more time, she ran out the door, sheet music in hand.

Fluttershy did knock on the door before entering, but she needn't have as a deep voice told her to enter almost immediately. As soon as she entered, she was hit with the lovely smell of a light-roast coffee. Sniffing lightly, the girl walked in. Discord was sitting on the desk, on top of all his papers and things. In his hands he held a steaming mug of coffee. With a gleaming look in his eyes, he patted a space on the desk next to him. Fluttershy smiled brightly and walked briskly towards him. She hopped up onto the desk, much more enthusiastically than she thought was possible of her. He handed her another steaming mug. She held it gently in her hands and sniffed it calmly.

"This is a nice light roast," she said gratefully, sipping at her coffee.

Discord set down his mug and drew his face closer to hers. Her heart almost stopped for a moment. She could see his dark skin and his sharp golden eyes set against the dark skin. His breath was warm against her skin; her breath was caught in her throat. Without a word, he drew away from her slightly and whispered:

"Let's sing a duet."

Fluttershy blushed deeply, put down her cup, took his gentlemanly hand, and walked with him to the piano. His graceful fingers touched the fingers and together they began to weave a beautiful melody. Discord began first with:

"In the light that falls at moonrise, in the rhythm of the rain,

In a thousand little unexpected ways…"

Fluttershy felt her heart begin to soar as they sang together. The music flowed through her very veins. It was a part of her, and so was he. Singing with him felt right. Pushing back her pink bangs, she sang out:

"In the echo of the ocean, in the haunting of the wind,

In mysterious, extraordinary ways!

In the certainty I will always be true and as near as my next prayer, you will find me there!"

Then, together, a lovely tenor with a soprano, they sang out together in perfect harmony:

"I will be there, beside you, through the lonely nights that fall,

So close your eyes, remember my embrace!

I will be there, like justice, I will find you through it all,

This do I swear…

I will be there."

Fluttershy held out her last note, hearing the vibrato each against the stone walls. Discord stood up from the piano and looked down upon her. His white hair was hanging around is face.

"You are truly incredible…and I think we make a good duet."

He did not look her in the eye as he complimented her. The girl bit her little pink lips and began to develop a deep blush.

"I think so too."

Discord held out his hand. His golden eyes board into her like twin setting suns. She looked up at him, blinking slowly, her teal eyes lighting up.

"Sing with me," he said in deep voice, his cheeks coloring.

Fluttershy took his outstretched hand and replied:

"Yes."


End file.
